


Tender Mercy

by Menomegirl



Category: Angel The Series
Genre: M/M, angel - Freeform, lindsey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-10
Updated: 2009-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-04 08:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menomegirl/pseuds/Menomegirl





	Tender Mercy

Pale light filters across the bed from slits in the blinds, highlighting the darkness within the room. The clean antiseptic scent of alcohol, of iodine and various other medicinal smells assault his senses as he slips quietly inside, pauses and lets the door silently close behind him.

He inhales deeply and it's the stronger scent of blood that compels him to walk on soft feet toward the figure half-covered by a sheet of white cotton, resting there so unaware of his surroundings, drugged into sleep to keep the pain at bay. Hands that want to rend and tear push into his pockets to diminish the impulse because he's unwilling to awaken the guard he left knocked out on the other side of the door.

His head tilts as he contemplates Lindsey, standing still as he breathes in the heady aromas that waft up from his inert body. The tang of fear-filled sweat clings to him like a second skin, but it's sharper than it was a few days ago: an icy cold, sick stench that Angel's all too familiar with and has been the cause of more times than he cares to recall most nights.

But not this night. His fingers curl inside the pockets of his pants as satisfaction rolls through his body, the corners of his lips tilt up as he takes pleasure in seeing his enemy laid low. Alone and in the silence broken only by the hushed sound of a life spared, he lets himself feel everything he had no time for in his desire to get to Cordelia before it was too late.

Hate and pity war within him as his eyes travel the length of the half-draped body, over the short, damp strands of hair and the thick eyelashes brushing the thin skin underneath the closed lids, the full lips that appear kiss-bruised and swollen, down over the column of the throat that's bared and vulnerable.

His vision sharpens as he takes in the sight of tanned skin that's several shades paler than it should be and his eyes linger over the bandages covering the damage he inflicted on Lindsey earlier in the night. Hunger stirs within him at the rich scent of the young body that's pulsing with the life that he covets and wants to take.

A small amount of time passes that's punctuated only by the sound of the lone heart beating in the quiet as he stands beside the bed, silent except for what's welling up inside of him and he ruthlessly pushes it all down as deep as he can, because regret for his actions is the one thing he can't afford to show, even in the solitude of a hospital room.

Still, Angel stops and pauses in the act of turning away at the pained moan coming from the bed, a sound so low that he knows only he could have heard it. He turns back briefly, reaches out a hand to brush curled knuckles across a cheek, smiles a little at the warmth of the skin he strokes as soft stubble teases the back of his fingers.

Lindsey leans into the touch and wins a small battle even in his drugged state when the vampire leaves as silently as he came, the regret that he just denied himself a shadow on the heart that would forever have to remain hardened against the all too fallible human he left behind.


End file.
